Digital paradox

Published : Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 at 12:00 AM Count : 109

Sayeed Ovi

A ship is about to sail.
From the deck, a Cretan is saying to his mates standing on the shore,
"All Cretans are liars." This is known as the 'Paradox of Epimenides'
from Ancient Greece. 'Paradox' is a seemingly true statement that
contradicts with itself. The contradiction here is clearly evident: if
he (the Cretan) is true that all the Cretans are liars, he too cannot be
true, because he is also a Cretan! Then, among the two consecutive
statements, one should be false. In some cases, the national goal of
Bangladesh resembles a paradox nowadays: The creation of a digital
Bangladesh through delimiting digital practices and dispossessing
digital freedom!Law is believed to protect civil rights, ensure
social justice and sustain harmony amid societal setting. Well-judged
and well-précised laws, such as: preserving women's rights, punishment
for homicide, oppression, planned vandalization and violence, or
conservation of nature etc , in short , bring boon and boost in social
life. On the contrary, autonomous or despotic laws often cause
discontent among citizens while resulting in public outcry. Such
instances are not infrequent on the pages of history-from the era of
empire to nation-states. The introduction and legislation of ICT Section
57 was a traumatizing incident for the Bangladesh culture that now
reportedly belong to digital culture. The further attempt of gagging
freedom of expression was marked by the cabinet's approval of Digital
Security Act (DSA) on the 31st January.Even though the declaration
of revoking of Section 57 pleased us temporarily, but that particular
law has been deliberately divided and distributed in Sections 25, 28, 29
and 31 of the amended DSA. We already have witnessed of 1,417 filed
cases from the year 2012 to 2017 under this section. At least 65 percent
of them were for defamation, and many journalists were harassed in the
accusation of slandering. Thus, the DSA continues to pose a huge threat
to trigger misuse of laws against innocents. Moreover, several terms
like 'defamation', 'religious sentiment', etc are not clearly defined so
anyone may feel free to misinterpret these laws.A comparison
between the punishments described in DSA and the punishments of colonial
era on account of defamation, hurting religious sentiment and
provocation causing breach of peaceful coexistence delineates that the
laws of present-day Bangladesh are far stricter than the British period.
The penalty levels for few cases might have been unusual like in
Section 21 - up to 14 years jail or a fine of up to Taka 1 crore or both
for spreading negative propaganda against the Liberation War or the
Father of the Nation - which should be reconsidered.It is an
assumption that these laws might not be much useful to prevent unrest
and violence in the country. In the age of information, digital
disinformation actually does not follow any linear pattern which can be
suppressed immediately. From the last few years, most of the incidents
of vandalism and violence erupted from social media disinformation
remains unsolved, and serious miscreants are still roaming about
Scott-free for many 'mysterious' reasons. Besides, individuals with
minor, even no offense often times have to endure unpleasant situations.
Such trend could be worse because new act has vested more authoritative
power on the hands of police.In the newly granted act - Section 32
demonstrates that no one can be a spy with digital apparatuses to
collect information entering into the offices of government,
semi-government, autonomous or statutory bodies without lawful procedure
or permission. Otherwise, He will be held as guilty and should get 14
years imprisonment or Taka 20 lakhs fine or both. What about
investigative journalism that reveals the hidden wrongdoings of the
corrupt people? Lawbreakers are not idealists.Rather, they are in
need to be exposed with accurate investigative initiatives, risk and
tactics. Publics are experiencing such incidents regularly through
extraordinary investigative reports and programs digging out concealed
facts. Instead of assisting these undaunted truth-seekers, this law
would enfetter them by being a doubtless impediment and barrier.
Besides, hiding crucial information, any organization anytime can be a
potential threat to the state, security and democracy.A political
manifesto-"Vision 2021", popularized by the AL before winning the
National Election of 2008 demonstrated the creation of a 'Digital
Bangladesh' - vesting more importance and emphasizing on economic and
technological development. Information Right Act was approved in the
following year. But later on, the orthodox implementation of Section 57
and DSA is felt as quite reverse to the previous mass-welcomed steps
taken by the government. Not to forget - the constitution of
Bangladesh's Section 39 declares the freedom of thought and expression
(except some special cases which are not specified adequately).
Therefore, why the discrepancy and dichotomy with security law and
digital control? Why such enigma? Often, it seems the dream of 'Digital
Bangladesh' is becoming a mirage.

The writer is a Researcher at
Jahangirnagar University and writes on politics, sociology, media and
communication technology. He can be reached at [email protected]